I have wanted to do a Digital Crates post on Amerigo Gazaway for a while. I first came across him in 2012 when he was still involved with Gummy Soul Record Company. The Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia continues to be one of my all time favourite hip hop albums while A Tribe Called Quest have served as a critical soundtrack for significant parts of my life so when Amerigo created a musical journey, which he called Bizarre Tribe: A Quest To The Pharcyde, that blended these two groups, I was hooked. Bizarre Tribe was described as follows: “Utilizing the original Jazz, Soul and Funk recordings sampled throughout A Tribe Called Quest’s extensive catalogue, Gazaway recreates classic productions – pairing his reinterpreted instrumentals with select vocals from West Coast “golden era” favorites, The Pharcyde.”
Available for free download, for a short while, Bizarre Tribe has a wonderful tribute to these two groups but Gummy Soul received a ‘cease and desist order’ from the record label for copyright infringement. This is a battle that’s still being fought but, for now, Bizarre Tribe is only available for those of us who were able to access before the legal issues. Amerigo parted ways with Gummy Soul, amicably, and has been putting out mixes and the like since then.
Earlier this year, he released Inner City Travellin’ Man, a single that mashed Yasiin Bey and Marvin Gaye beautifully and followed this up with the album Yasiin Gaye – The Departure (Side One). Once again, a perfect musical and spiritual fit and Amerigo is able to find the space where they both connect exquisitely. In a cruel repetition of recent history, Amerigo received a takedown notice from the Recording Industry Association of America so Yasiin Gaye is no longer available for download from his platform. He has, however, stated that Yasiin Gaye – The Return (Side Two) will be going up, so keep a lookout on his platforms. Who knows how long it will be available online.
What you can comfortably download is Fela Soul, a dope mashup of Fela Kuti and De La Soul, which he put out before the above. Plus, one of the more recent singles he’s put out is Otis Redding x Big Boi – Shutterbug Remix . I am hoping this means there could be an album attached to this a well.
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